Get Involved!

There are many ways you can get involved at this convention, everything from participating in workshops, designing your own chaos costume, building robots for Beyond Cyberdrome to volunteering for Green Room, Tech and Gopher Hole.

The Gopher Hole Needs You!

Please volunteer for gophering and sign up for shifts. Earn groats! The gopher hole is on the mezzanine, near ops. (Does it help to mention it's above the real ale bar?)

The Green Room Needs You!

See the Gopher Hole ad above, but the green room is on the mezzanine above the main bar and breakfast area (Dockside). Get to hang out with famous authors - and get them drinks!

Tech needs beer You!

Find Clare G. to volunteer for tech - try the sound desk at the back of Argyll 1, but she’ll be busy during programme items, and also between items, so choose your time carefully!

Workshops

There is a list of (craft) workshops on page 25 of the ReadMe. There are limited places available so sign up soon, either at registration or outside the workshop room (Staffa). Some workshops will require a small payment.

Fan funds

Give us all your money!

Before you’ve spent all your cash in the dealers’ room, in the bar or on registering for yet more conventions, you’ll have the opportunity to give it away in a good cause at the auction in aid of the League of Fan Funds on Friday evening (Argyll 3, 21:30). You’ll be able to buy things to read, things to eat, things to wear, things to do, things to display, things to show your friends, and things to hide in a cupboard until the next auction.

Donations of more stock – or just money – are always welcome too. Come along to Argyll 3 from 21:00 if you have a donation for the auction, or have a word with Claire Brialey at the Cold Tonnage Books table in the dealers’ room during the day. You can also cast your vote in the TAFF (Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund) race at the auction, at Saturday evening’s TAFF party, or with Claire.

If all this makes you wonder about what a fan fund is and what it might have to do with you, come along to the ‘SMOFF: Make a Fan Fund’ programme item earlier in the evening (20:00 again in Argyll 3). SMOFF is intended to put the fun back into fan funds, as an assortment of candidates work out how they’re going to convince you all to vote for them when they can’t even agree on what SMOFF stands for… If you have any queries in advance, look for Flick.

No plan survives contact with the enemy … part 1

Liz Sourbut cannot be here this weekend.

Please amend your ReadMe as follows:

Fri, 2000-2130, Argyll 2

Signing Session

- Add Liz Wein, John Grant

Sat, 1100-1200, Argyll 3

The Enduring Call of Cthulhu

- Add George Mann

Sat, 1300-1400, Mezzanine

Kaffeklatsch

- Delete Liz Hand, Paul Cornell

- Add Dan Abnett

Sat, 1700-1800, Argyll 1

Orbital Cleavage

- Add Feorag

Sat, 1700-1800, Argyll 3

"Sword Blades and Poppy Seeds" - Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

- Delete Tanith Lee

Sat, 1700-1800, Orkney

Reading

- Delete Liz Hand

- Add Lisa Tuttle

Sat, 1700-1800, Staffa

Kaffeklatsch

- Add Liz Hand, Geoff Ryman

- Delete Liz Sourbut

Sun, 1100-1200, Argyll 3

The Other Kind of Fantastic

- Add George Mann

Sun, 1000-1100, Argyll 2

Up Close and Personal

- Delete Tanith Lee

Sun, 1300-1400, Orkney

Reading

- Delete Lisa Tuttle, Liz Sourbut

- Insert Liz Hand, Geoff Ryman

Sun, 1800-1900, Argyll 2

How Children's SF influences future reading

- Delete Amanda Hemingway

Mon, 1300-1400, Argyll 2

How to write the truly terrifying.

- Delete Tanith Lee

Media Programme

There are listings for the Media Programme scattered around (well, at least we’ve seen a couple!) and it’s a very impressive programme indeed. It runs each day from 9:30 until 12:30 (lunchtime) and more items later between 18:00 and “late” in the Orkney Suite. The room is used for other programme items between 12:30 and 6.

The first items of the day (9:30-10:50) are specially designed for children (accompanied by a responsible adult) but all are welcome.

No plan survives … part 2

Room Allocations

Creche will be in Room 601

Saturday Kaffeeklatches at 13:00 and 17:00 in the Mezzanine

Bar Barred on Sunday

On Sunday you won’t be able to buy drinks at the bar until 12:30, and no, that doesn’t mean they are free before that.

Readings

Geoff Ryman will be reading (Palms? Meters? Something anyway …) on Sunday from 13:00 to 14:00.

His Kaffeeklatsch is on Saturday at 17:00.

Harry Turner – Get Well Card

Harry Turner - a long-time fan - is currently in hospital and may be there for a few more weeks.

Friends are invited to sign a get-well card for him at the Cold Tonnage Books table in the Dealers Room.

Awards

As members of Eastercon you are invited to vote for the awards that will be presented this weekend. The ballots will close at 18:00 Saturday. The BSFA awards include the best novel, short fiction and artwork of 2005. Please also vote for an unsung hero for the Doc Weir award. See a past Doc Weir award winner, buy him or her a drink and he or she will tell you what it is all about. Ballot forms are available at the BSFA table in the dealers’ room. The short-listed artwork is on view at the BSFA table. The ballot boxes for all awards are at registration.

Spot the Lobster Competition

Across the river from the Crowne Plaza is the new BBC building, described as the most boring building in the world. However it looks a lot better with an imaginary lobster on the roof. If you get a photograph or make a drawing of the imaginary lobster on the roof, then there may be a prize (possibly imaginary!)

Construction Health and Safety

Earlier today we had a minor incident where several rooms in the convention were cut off by the activity of builders. Order was restored when the children tidied the Lego away into the allocated area outside the Chaos Room.

Arggh, we’ve been boarded by pirates who are making us put the ad to the right in …

No plan survives contact with the enemy … part 3

So of course the newsletter main computer showed up with a corrupted C drive … but thanks to the hard work of various people (including the nice AlexMc, the sterling Naveed and Jan) we’re up and running on laptops and, fingers crossed, we’ll have the main machine back on line by sometime tomorrow.

A Warning to all Seafarers

Those pesky 'Sisters of Neptune' girls are about again, press-ganging Con members into joining pirate crews in the SCRAP (Robot) Workshop.

Do not try to argue with these sirens of the deep. Our advice is to just give them money, beer, a kiss or whatever else they demand and leg it whilst you have your dignity.

Fashion note

This Con, we will mostly be wearing Pirate Outfits. If you haven't brought yours, then go to Chaos Costumes and ask Barbara and Teddy for their help, expertise and understanding. (Arrr!)

Stop Press …

The Coke machine outside Gopher Hole charges less than the bar. And yes, the machine is working now!

[Not shown in this online version, the SMS ad for “The Priestesses of Neptune”, an organisation for adventurous young women who enjoy the idea of a career in piracy, arrr. It was a terrible pain to get a print capable version, and just far too hard to recreate the layout in HTML at this time of night!]

All this and this super ‘Sisterhood Bracelet’ *

Just apply at the Registration desk to receive your secret pack at dead of night!